NOVPUB
Chapter 712: Chapter 712 Meeting
Chen Jinlan squeezed her way out of the crowd and approached Tong Yao with a question. "Yaoyao, what is going on? Why did the village chief suddenly call everyone?"
In the village, only Si Chen’s family had the most influence, even more than the village chief. The chief had always highly esteemed Si Chen’s family, so Chen Jinlan felt that Tong Yao would certainly know something.
"The village is planning to help everyone get rich," said Tong Yao cheerfully. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Chen Jinlan’s eyes lit up in disbelief, "Is that possible?"
Who nowadays doesn’t try to keep wealth all to themselves? Did the village chief really have such a kind heart to help everyone get rich together?
If this claim had come from anyone else, Chen Jinlan would not have believed it. But when the words came from Tong Yao, she was more or less convinced.
"What business will we be doing? We don’t have money, nor the knowledge to conduct business...can it work?"
Chen Jinlan was both excited and worried, she feared she wasn’t cut out for this kind of venture. Not to mention herself, even her son wasn’t cut for business.
Her son was now doing farm work at home, and his annual income was meager. He was content with his current life, occasionally borrowing money from his daughter, which grieved Chen Jinlan.
The house where her daughter’s family lived was so good, while her own house was in shambles, truly an eyesore.
"Auntie, don’t worry," Tong Yao laughed, "Since the village decided to help everyone get rich, there will be a good plan. You just need to listen to the village chief’s speech later."
Chen Jinlan could then only wait patiently. Seeing her chatting with Tong Yao, everybody thought that she might know some inside news and rushed to question her.
"Jinlan, what did Yaoyao tell you? Does she know anything?"
Chen Jinlan pretended to be mysterious, "You’ll know soon enough. Most people have arrived, and the village head will speak soon."
Hearing her say this, the person who asked the question pursed their lips but said nothing more.
Before long, a dense crowd had gathered. Si Chen and Gu Hongwei, worried that Tong Yao and Guo Jinnian would be squeezed by the crowd, took them to the outskirts. The villagers had mostly arrived and were chattering away, creating quite a din.
The village head spoke loudly through a megaphone, "Alright, everyone, settle down. Let’s not talk now. Let me first introduce this man standing beside me. He’s a high-ranking official from the town. He came today specifically for what I am about to announce. The reason why we invited him here is to make you all believe that what I am about to say is of utmost importance—it is a golden opportunity to help everyone get out of poverty."
Someone from the crowd couldn’t restrain their curiosity, "What is it about getting out of poverty?"
The village chief signaled everyone to calm down and let him finish speaking. "Next, I am going to talk about how to get rid of poverty. As you all know, there are two big mountains in our village that have remained fallow all these years. What I am going to talk about is related to these mountains. Everyone knows Si Chen and Gu Hongwei, who are currently assisting us in building roads. They are the pride of our village and of the entire Li City. Now, they want to help everyone in the village get out of poverty."
Before the village chief could finish speaking, a villager interrupted loudly with a sarcastic comment. "Those two families are so rich, they could give a few thousand yuan to each household, and we would all be lifted out of poverty and live well. Why bother doing business? We are uneducated, born and raised in the countryside. We don’t know how to do anything other than farming. If they really want to help us, they should just give us money directly, so we can build new houses and live better lives."
"I heard that building roads is costing a lot of money. Why not give that money to us directly? What’s the point of building roads? They say it’s for everyone’s benefit, but in reality, it’s just for their convenience when they drive. How often can we go to the city? Aren’t those roads just for their convenience?"
When these words were spoken, everyone fell quiet, and some even seemed to agree.
Upon hearing this, Tong Yao’s expression cooled. There were indeed many ungrateful people in the world, and unfortunately, she had just encountered one.
Seeing everyone’s silent acceptance, she felt a cold sneer in her heart.
Guo Jinnian almost lost control, but she held back her anger after being stopped by Gu Hongwei.
Si Chen kept his expression unyielding and did not speak. It was not their turn to talk yet.
The disdainful comments also displeased the village chief and the town leader.
The high-ranking town official took the megaphone from the village chief, and said sternly, "I heard what that villager just said, but I hope that’s only his opinion. Even though I am not a resident of this village, honestly, I am ashamed for what he just said."
"Dr. Si and Mr. Gu have been diligent in their efforts to improve the village. They are wealthy and want to help you become wealthy too. However, there are still those who hope to gain something for nothing, completely disregarding people’s hard work. Have all of you ever thought, if they should make money and move out of the village without looking back, or they decide to not help you get out of poverty, what could you do?"
Upon hearing this, the faces of those who were swayed by the previous villager’s words turned red with embarrassment. Indeed, if Si Chen and Gu Hongwei did not help reconstruct their hometown, what could they do?
The town leader continued, "This time, we’ve organized this meeting to discuss utilizing the two mountains in your village and plant orange trees. Once the oranges ripen, Dr. Si and Mr. Gu will help sell them. They will even hire technical staff to provide assistance. Any household that’s willing to get involved is required to contribute labor and money, and the village will distribute dividends according to how much you’ve invested. The more shares you have, the more dividends you will get once we start making profit. As long as we are united, we can surely get out of poverty."
"What the hell is this? I thought they were going to distribute money. Turns out, no money will be distributed, in fact, they are asking us for money. Whoever is dumb and rich can go ahead, I’m not participating", the villager who had previously ridiculed Si Chen and Gu Hongwei refused to invest, leaving with a wave of his hand.
The other villagers were whispering among themselves, seemingly not keen on getting involved in the project.
However, they also didn’t dare to outright reject it. They didn’t want to invest money but felt fearful of losing out if others got rich. Most people adopted a wait-and-see attitude, which was not what the village head had expected.
How could they let such an excellent opportunity pass them by? The village head increased the volume of his megaphone and proclaimed, "My family will invest 300 yuan. If anyone else wants to get involved, please come over and register. You can pay later. Let me reiterate, if you don’t participate now, you won’t be able to once the project officially begins."
Hearing this, Chen Jinlan gritted her teeth and shouted, "I’ll contribute 500 yuan! My daughter isn’t home, but I’ll make the decision for her. She will also contribute 500 yuan!"
